So this week has gone by pretty fast. Classes are going well and I am getting adjusted to life here. I know my way around now and I am beinning to explore around the city. Everything here takes a little more time than you would think. I have been looking for a church and a place to volunteer, but it has proven to be more difficult than you would think. Luckily I think I have found a church thanks to a friend who studied abroad here last year. I am still working on places to volunteer, but there are people helping me, so it should not be too much longer. Tomorrow at 6:00 I am leaving for Tiputini in the Amazon basin. I am excited and nervous about the trip. I remember being in kindergarden and ... read more

So yesterday we took a day trip to Otavalo. It is town in the mountains with a famous market. At the market the indigenous people sell hand-crafts, food, and everything else you could think of. The indigenous people stil wear the traiditional clothing and speak Quiche, not Spanish. It was really interesting to experience a small part of the culture there. We also visited a bird rescue center where they had Andean Condors. The trip to was beatiful up a mountain that overlooked a lake. The birds were nice to see, but the views were amazing. Also Andean Condors are some of the ugliest birds I have ever seen, and I would not want to mess with them considering they are as tall as humans. We went to Otavalo by bus, and it cost 2 dollars ... read more

So it I experienced my first full weekend in Ecuador. This experience will definitely make me a more flexible person because I do not think Ecuadorians ever follow a plan. On Thursday I had the rest of my classes and, they went well except for philosophy.I dropped because I do not have the vocabulary for the class and I am now taking spanish conversation. On Friday I skipped my only class to go to a meeting about Tiputini the University's lab in the Amazon basin. I have signed up for a trip there, this will be a challange for me. There will be snakes, but I know this will be a good experience for me. On Friday I went out with a group to Mariscal or Gringolandia, it was a lot of fun. Saturday I had ... read more

So I survived my first night alone with no problems in Ecuadot. I had my first class at noon that day and it was only class. It is society and gender course and luckily there are other internationals in the course. After an explaination of the class an Ecuadorian asked if he could smoke in class, but the teacher was not amused. After class I had lunch with a girl at the sushi place on campus by the pond. It was a gorgeous day in Quito. There were no clouds and you could see all the mountains. That night I watched Sex and City 2 with my family, watching TV actually helps with learning the language. On Thursday I have 4 classes. I started at 8:30 with Art History. I went to the wrong class, but ... read more

Roll Tide! Number 14, I was able to watch the majority of the game. My host family thought it was a very brutal game, and was not sure about the rules. I did not get to watch the last few minutes because the internet stopped. Yesterday I also went to my school, so I would no how to get their. It is gorgeous, I will add pictures soon. Also the drive their is very pretty through the Mountains to a valley. Today was orientation which was informative, but a little boring. We were split into groups for a tour and there was a girl who goes to Alabama. She is only person from Alabama, what are the chances. I met her and some other people. She was really nice and it was nice to have somebody ... read more

So I arrived here in Quito last night around 11:00 pm without many problems. When I arrived in Atlanata yersterday I though it would be a disastorous trip because of confusion of luggage, but I was wrong. I was nervous about costumes and immigration, but it went fast and I met a sigma in the line. My host brother Jonathan picked me up and I arrived at my house. My host family is very nice, I have a sister who goes to my school and a mother. Last night they had a party for my host grandmother's birthday. My host family is from Colombia and some of their family from Colombia was here. I talked with the younger people til around 2:00. The asked my major and when I said Christian Education that started a religious ... read more